7 Vexing Questions About an Airbnb IPO

Will Airbnb be hamstrung by its lack of vacation rentals in non-urban areas, the very locales that the company points to as ground zero for an era of travel redistribution? Can Airbnb trim its performance marketing spend based on its brand strength and show investors a path to profitability without an inordinate wait? These are some of the questions that Airbnb will need to answer if it indeed files confidentially to go public this month, and seeks to start trading later this year. Here are a few of the important questions: A Path to Profitability? Airbnb officials pre-pandemic argued that it wasn't just another gig economy company piling up red ink like Uber, for example, but ran a profitable enterprise — at least in its lodging business. From leaked financial documents over the last couple of years, Airbnb reportedly was profitable in 2018 but not in 2019 when marketing costs soared. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Airbnb's revenue fell 67 percent to $335 million in the second quarter. Airbnb's coronavirus-induced loss was around $400 million. The company's narrative has long been that it could grow with less dependence on Google than competitors because of Airbnb's quantity of direct traffic and brand recognition. "Like Expedia and Booking, Airbnb has likely cut back co